Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory Ltd. (Edogawa Ward, Tokyo; Satoshi Washiya, President and COO; hereinafter referred to as “ACSL”, TYO:6232) and Aeronext Inc. (Shibuya Ward, Tokyo; Keisuke Toji, CEO; hereinafter referred to as “Aeronext”) are pleased to announce the release of the latest prototype of the 4D GRAVITY®︎^*1 logistics drone, which the two companies have jointly been developing. In August 2020, the two companies concluded a joint development agreement for an industrial drone equipped with 4D GRAVITY®︎ and a license agreement for 4D GRAVITY®︎ patents related to the manufacturing and sales of the drones.

Furthermore, ACSL, Aeronext and ACCESS CO., LTD. (Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; Kiyo Oishi, President and CEO; hereinafter referred to as “ACCESS”, TYO:4813) will collaborate on software applications tailored for logistics.

Jointly-developed prototype of 4D GRAVITY®︎ delivery drone

ACSL develops Made-In-Japan industrial drones, targeted for various applications such as logistics, infrastructure inspection, and disasters. ACSL develops its own proprietary flight controller that realizes secure drones, both in safety and reliability. ACSL has one of the top leading experiences in BVLOS flight over unmanned areas (Level 3).

Aeronext has been researching and developing drones for various industrial applications with its proprietary 4D GRAVITY® airframe structural design technology at its core, and is now focusing on the logistics field in particular, working on the research and development of specialized airframes.

ACCESS has advanced technology and extensive market experience in the IoT software and hardware domains, and starting in 2019, we are expanding the social issues to be solved by IoT to the aerial domain and developing solutions using drones.

In the future, the three companies will bring together their knowledge and technologies to jointly develop this latest prototype and conduct a series of demonstrations and verifications toward full-scale mass production, and jointly promote the goal of early social implementation.

＜Features of the presented drone＞

１．Hardware

Conventional drones used in logistics applications are mostly in the form of general-purpose aircraft used for aerial photography, etc., with the payload replaced by cargo. They are not optimized for logistics applications, and have limitations in flight speed, flight distance, deliverable weight, and delivery quality. On the other hand, a dedicated logistics aircraft equipped with 4D GRAVITY® will have the following three features to achieve higher levels of flight speed, flight distance, deliverable weight, and delivery quality.

• Optimal placement of luggage near the ideal center of gravity of the drone
• Dedicated logistics drone specialized for steady horizontal flight and forward movement
• Independently displaceable luggage leveling mechanism

Luggage section of the latest

２．Software：About software for logistics drones

We develop software for logistics drones. It has the following features.

• Level 4 compliance for logistics drones
• Optimal delivery route planning based on weather and other delivery route conditions
• Linkage with logistics management system

＜Specifications of the announced drone＞　

Maximum landing weight 25kg

Standard payload 5kg

Please refer here for more details.